Contributor: Meghan Vestal. Lesson ID: 11203
To err is human. Presidents are only human and make mistakes. FDR, considered one of the best wartime leaders, made more than a mistake: He confined 1000s of Americans for their race. Learn more.
Investigate a bad decision made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during WWII and decide if that decision makes you change your opinion of him.
President Roosevelt is considered by most historians to have been one of the best U.S. presidents of all time and an excellent wartime leader. But, like all leaders, Roosevelt did not always make good decisions.
During World War II, he made one decision that harmed a specific group of Americans. It occurred on February 19, 1942, the day that will live — and has lived — in infamy.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor terrified Americans. There had not been such brutality on U.S. soil since the Revolutionary War, and many Americans feared another attack was imminent.
These fears and anxieties caused some to lash out at Japanese Americans because they were afraid some might be acting as spies for the Japanese government.
President Roosevelt needed to do something to help calm American fears, so he signed Executive Order 9066. Under Executive Order 9066, military zones were created to be used as internment camps that were similar to prisoner-of-war camps.
Hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans were forced from their homes and taken to internment camps until the end of the war.
Explore the resources below to learn more about life at Japanese internment camps and the effects of Executive Order 9066.
Move to the Got It? section to continue exploring your opinion about President Roosevelt's leadership during WWII.